ART CITIES:Milan-The Porcelain Room
The exhibition “The Porcelain Room” explores the historical context, scope and impact of Chinese export porcelain and brings together examples of porcelain made between the 16th and 19th centuries for various markets, social and religious groups, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. This production demonstrates the ability of Chinese craftsmen and traders to respond to the demands and tastes of different targets.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Fondazione Prada Archive
“The Porcelain Room” consists of a brown velvet-covered structure divided into three sections. The first part of the exhibition includes The largest number of early 16th to mid 17th century Ming dynasty porcelains with European iconography ever shown together. This production falls into the category of “First orders”, a term used to refer to the first commissions of Chinese porcelain by the Portuguese after their arrival in China. Existing examples of “First orders” are very rare, only 150 objects have survived to this day. Over 45 examples have been selected for this exhibition, on loan from major public and private collections around the world. The second part “The Table” includes a wide selection of everyday objects with natural and surprising shapes, such as animals, fruits and vegetables. These Chinese tableware with a strong visual impact and exotic taste were made around 1760. They were part of extraordinary tableware created to entertain guests during dinners organized by aristocratic families in Europe. The third section, entitled “The Porcelain Room”, pays homage to the tradition of porcelain rooms, the magnificent installations created in European aristocratic palaces and houses in the 17th and 18th centuries. These rooms incorporated Chinese porcelain with mirrors, lacquer panels and gilded carved wood. Some of the most iconic cases still survive such as the ceiling of the Santos Palace in Lisbon, realized between 1667 and 1687 and the porcelain room at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, built between 1695 and 1705.
“First orders” is a term usually attributed to the very first commissions of Chinese porcelains by the Portuguese after their arrival in China in 1513, when explorer Jorge Alvarez reached by sea the south coast. In the early 16th century Portugal dominated the porcelain trade between China and Europe, being the first to order objects decorated with western iconography, such as the Portuguese coat of arms, the armillary sphere (the device of King D. Manuel I), the sacred IHS monogram (the first three letters in Greek of Jesus Christ’s name: iota eta sigma), family armorials and those for religious orders, as well as a number of pieces with Portuguese inscriptions such as “ISTO MANDOU FAZER JORGE ALVRZ NA//A ERA DE 1552 REINA”. During these early days, often described as the beginning of globalization, the decoration and shape of these porcelains were still entirely Oriental in taste, with the exception of the Western elements copied by the Chinese artists from drawings, prints or even prototypes. Only in time, and gradually, did the commissions include the demand for European forms and decoration, culminating in the beginning of the 18th century, when shapes became almost exclusively Western.
“The Table”: Coinciding with the ever more increasing popularity of Chinese export porcelain in Europe, the reconstruction of the Jingdezhen kilns was taking place during the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662–1722) and driving a new and flourishing era in the manufacture and trade of this product. The demand was such that some kilns started to manufacture exclusively export wares. By this time some of the production was based on European ceramics, wooden and silver prototypes, in particular the more elaborate pieces made for the fashionable dinner services that were being ordered from late Kangxi period, but mostly during the Qianlong period (1736 –1795). Amongst the most desirable and spectacular shapes of tureens made for export are those made in naturalistic forms representing animals, birds, Buddhas, fruit, and vegetables. These were created from around the 1760s, for the amusement of guests dining in wealthy households and made for extraordinary table sets. Shapes included those of geese, quails, roosters, boar-heads, carps, ducks, crabs, ox-heads, sows, dormice, tortoises, Buddhas and all manner of fruit and vegetable forms, most of which are represented in this exhibition. The sources for these shapes were mostly Western ceramics that were produced across Europe by manufacturers such as Höchst and Meissen in Germany and the Real Fábrica do Rato in Lisbon.
“The Porcelain Room”: The first examples of Chinese porcelain being used in architectural contexts are thought to date as early as the 13th century, when bowls and dishes were embedded in the ornamental areas of houses, mosques and stone memorials in the Swahili coast, in Eastern Africa. Later, shards were used to the same effect and, up to the 16th century, plates and dishes were also mortared into the ceilings of local palaces. By the 18th century, sitting rooms of merchant’s mansions were not unlike some of the European “porcelain rooms,” displaying plates and dishes on the walls. In Iran, where underglaze blue porcelain started arriving during the 15th century, the chini-khaneh (house of chinaware) saw its creation, in the Ardabil shrine, of one of the most spectacular displays of Chinese porcelain ever accomplished, following Shah Abbas I 1611 gift of his collection of 1,162 pieces. Chinese porcelain shards were also used in Portugal in impressive architectural features called embrechados, such as those of the Chapel and gardens of the Paço dos Henriques in Alcáçovas, and Palácio Marquês da Fronteira in Lisbon. Later, similar use of plates and other shapes were found in the Mexican riscos, such as the fountain of the Casa de Don Isidro Fabela in Mexico City. Some of the most overwhelming “porcelain rooms” were those created from the early 17th century onwards in European palaces and aristocratic houses, incorporating Chinese porcelain with mirrors, lacquer panels and gilded carved wood. Extraordinary rooms were created all across Europe. Some of the most iconic still survive, such as the ceiling of the Santos Palace in Lisbon, created between 1664 and 1687 and the porcelain room at the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, built between 1695 and 1705.
Info: Curator: Jorge Welsh and Luísa Vinhais, Fondazione Prada, Largo Isarco 2, Milan, Duration: 30/1/20-10/1/21, Days & Hours: Fri-Sun 10:00-19:00, www.fondazioneprada.org
